GCSE Music

[Guest55]

There is NO theory in GCSE music - it's listening and appraising. You listen to a CD and recognise different musical styles etc it is nothing like the theory exams I took when I was learning the piano.

I think it depends on the teacher how difficult the composing is. This was the bit DC was dreading but it was fun experimenting, recording their efforts then using the software to support them in writing a 'score'.

IMHO it's an excellent GCSE - except for anyone who cannot play or sing and has no sense of rhythm.

Yoyo I guess it was your son's school who perhaps did not offer sufficient support as there was certainly a drummer amongst DC's cohort.

[mystery]

Daogroupie, I can't imagine that your child could have any problem with GCSE music "theory" with all that under the belt. Wow! I thought you were going to tell us that she had grade 1 on the spoons and liked singing along to X Factor. To sit music exams beyond a certain grade you have to sit Grade V theory still don't you? That's not very difficult for someone who plays, and the GCSE has less "theory" in it than that doesn't it? I did music O' level in the old days - four part harmony etc etc. I don't think that is done to A' level now, but it wasn't particularly difficult. Just a few rules to remember and use. Where have you got your horror stories from?

[Guest55]

Mystery - no you don't have to sit grade 5 theory there are alternatives.

In ABRSM exams you can take a grade 5 jazz (insert instrument here) exam - this includes improvisation and is seen as equivalent. My DC is taking grade 8 soon and took this route.

[Marylou]

DD1 got to Grade 8 on tenor horn without sitting a single theory exam - through Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Much to the annoyance of DD2, who has just had to do Grade 5 theory in order to progress on violin - the ABRSM route!

[Daogroupie]

Yes Grade 5 theory is holding us up at the moment. She has one more Grade Five to sit and then she will grind to a complete halt until she can sit her Grade 5 theory. I think it is a complete pain, she hates it and it is getting in the way. We dont want to swop to Trinity or do Jazz, the format of the ABRSM exams really suits us, so she is just going to have to knuckle down and get on with it. She has ground her way through the books right from Grade One and is about half way through Grade Five. But it is sounding a huge alarm bell to me about GCSE Music which everyone seems to assume she will do. I have heard that the theory is really hard and all the players who took it hated it. We have so few slots at GCSE because of triple science and double languages that I am really loath to take something where there is an aspect she finds tedious. DG

[Marylou]

This is a super site for learning/revising theory, and the best bit is that it actually plays the notes for you. I find learning all this stuff is easier somehow if you can actually hear it, rather than having to imagine it...

http://teoria.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've got a few more useful links but they are on my laptop. They proved invaluable for DD when she was revising for her exam recently. I'll post them up as soon as I can get the laptop away from the kids.

[Guest55]

But it is sounding a huge alarm bell to me about GCSE Music which everyone seems to assume she will do. I have heard that the theory is really hard and all the players who took it hated it.

My DC did Edexcel and really there was no theory - just listening and appraising as I've said. He has never studied any theory and he loved the course. I think it is down the quality of teaching whether it is fun or not.

[mystery]

Yes - check which exam board the school does and what the syllabus is really like. For someone with that level of music the GCSE should be so easy they should get a good grade easily. Maybe you are hearing horror stories that are not a "like for like" situation. Why such a struggle with Grade 5 theory ABRSM -- I don't remember anyone struggling with it in my day and it wasn't that big a deal. I really can't see that the GCSE theory could be harder than that for any exam board. Economics sounds far worse!!

At the end of the day it probably won't matter whether they do music or economics ......... I guess you can survive without either of these at GCSE and still go on and study them at a higher level? But if your DD might otherwise possibly decide to study music later on and is giving it up now because of some fear of theory it would be a shame.

Can she read bass and treble clef? Maybe this is the issue for some children - if they play an instrument which uses one clef only they find the theory harder than say a pianist?

[Belinda]

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[Daogroupie]

Thank you for all the advice, She reads alto and treble clef. I don't know why she is making such a meal of the theory. Other students have just done a weekend crash courses and then taken the exam. It is very unlike her so it has sounded a note of alarm that is perhaps misplaced. DG